LIFE AND TIMES 



FIRST REPRESENTATIVE M 



: L. Montg< 








PHOTO BY 1 



GRAVE OF CONRAD WEISER 
near Womelsdorf, Berks County, Pa., as it appeared in June, 1893. 



LECTURE 



ON THE 



LIFE AND TIMES 



OF 



CONRAD WEISER, 



THE 



FIRST REPRESENTATIVE MAN 



OF 



BERKS COUNTY, 



BY 



Morton L. Montgomery. 



READING, PA.: 
Chas. F. Ha age, Printer, Seventh and Court Streets. 



•W 4,2.5 



PURPOSE OF LECTURE. 



The tendency of the times for some years has been againsl 
the uniform development of the districts that constitute larger 
divisions of territory, as counties and States. Like the draining 

waters of creeks and rivers into the ocean without aritificial im- 
pediments— as in the primeval period when mechanical power 
was not demanded— industries, wealth and population have been 
drifting, or rather drawn, towards great centres such as Boston, 
New York. Philadelphia, Baltimore, Cincinnati, Chicago, St. 
Louis and San Francisco. It is even to be noticed in inland coun- 
ties like Berks, Lebanon and Lehigh, for the county-seats are 
-rowing so rapidly that they are coming to have the major part 
of assessed property and population, notwithstanding the area of 
territory occupied is comparatively limited. Political and social 
influences are thereby developed in channels leading to personal 
distinction rather than general welfare. In this way too much 
power is permitted to settle gradually but surely in certain persons, 
and their individual judgment is taken as public opinion. This 
is against the substantial interests and prosperity of the people 
taken as an organized body. 

General education and government have been carried on for 
many years by a prescribed system for the general advantage of 
all the" inhabitants. The manifest design of this legislation was 
to build up the parts which constitute the whole, on the theory 
that if the several parts be recognized for intelligence and self- 
government the whole must necessarily be distinguished in these 
respects. But with all our State and local appropriations for the 
purposes of education and government, many parts are found to be 
deteriorating while only few are improving. This is particularly 
noticeable in respect to property, population and social influence; 
and in respect to individuality, co-operation, confidence and relia- 
bility, the average development is not what we have a righl to 
expect in return for the taxes levied and expenditures made. 
Electors contribute their share of the taxes to enable the several 
parts or districts to be successfully maintained and developed, but 
the substantial and uniform local benefits for which the taxes are 
assented to without complaint are not realized. 

Steam and electricity have latterly become so important in 
the development of industry for the superfluities of life, and capi- 
tal and speculation have concentrated so largely in metropolitan 



places, from which thej exei-1 a tnosl extraordinary influence over 
the manners, customs and desires of society, reaching out hun- 
dreds if not thousands of miles, thai little hope can be entertained 
of effecting a change by the discuss ion of local rights in the inte- 
rior parts of Pennsylvania along the mountains, I mean such a 
change as would give to labor a due proportion of its products in 
the districts where ii is carried on. 

The waters rise no1 in the mountains simply to How on to the 
sea without advantage to the people as they pass, nor are men and 
women intended to establish domestic relations in the interior 
parts simply to permit their offspring to be drawn away to swell 
the population of greal cities, nor are they expected to work and 
practice rigid economy simply to give the real benefits to finan- 
ciers and speculators far removed from the seat of industry: but 
they are designed to serve a more direct purpose in the affairs of 
mankind. The natural results would be more advantageous to the 
locality if they were not commonly and persistently drawn away by 
selfish manipulations. A true conception of local rights would 
greatly modify these manipulations in such a manner as to en- 
courage plans and schemes of distribution that would produce a 
uniform appreciation and development of the general rights, 
privileges and conveniences of the people. Circumstances, some- 
times accidental but mostly the result of deliberation, may enable 
a man or body of men to take an unfair advantage over others, 
whether as neighbors of the same locality, or as fellow citizens of 
adjoining or distant localities, but in the short span of a life-time 
this advantage will be found to result eventually in a disadvantage 
of some kind, either of a personal or general nature. 

Our education being intended for social elevation, and our 
government for political equality, the former should incline us to 
be just and fraternal, and the latter in all its departments to be 
impartial, whatsoever the situation of the several localities. 
But my historical researches, with a collection of statistics, have 
brought me to see an opposite social and political tendency, and 
believing it to be injurious to the general welfare, I was led to 
study the career of Conrad Weiser — a most zealous advocate of 
local rights — and to present the result of my reflections to the peo- 
ple in the form of a lecture, with the hope that thereby public at- 
tention would be directed to the rights and demands of the re- 
spective parts of Berks County, and that this tendency might be 
changed in the interest of practical not theoretical political 
equality, of general not individual industrial power, and of real 
not imaginary social progress. 

Morton L. Montgomery. 



LIFE MD TIMES 



OF 



RUD WEISER. 



Lecture delivered extemporaneously before local teachers' insti- 
tutes in Berks County during 1892 and 1893 by Morion L. 
Montgomery, Esq., and as read by him before the Board of 
Trade of Reading at a regular meeting on June 1, 1893. 




"^ | IOGR APHY is an important study. The actions 

and accomplishments of prominent men who 

(§)jj have been identified with the development of a 

community, or with the social movements of a 

State or Nation, form the basis of history, and 

a precise story of them, whether written or spoken, 

is not only very pleasing but highly entertaining and 

instructive. 

Men and women of distinction in different periods of 
history have been selected by writers and orators upon 
whom to base biography and oration. The practice 
has been carried on from the beginning of speech and 
literature until now, and it will continue until mankind 
and language shall have passed away. 

It is common for the lecturer and the orator to select 
a prominent character who lived in a distant land many 
years ago, and filled an important position in political, 
or religious, or industrial affairs, and so directed his 
actions as to have brought about change, revolution or 
death in the affairs of man. 



(j WEISER LECTURE. 

In the case of Conrad Wei ser, I have left the usual 
path. I have remained here in the county of Berks for 
my subject. Ami what have I found? A hero — a 
conqueror — a genius? I have found a man who was 
more than a hero of battles — a leader who was more 
than a conqueror of nations — a guide who was more 
than a genius in understanding and controlling the 
mysteries of the world. He was born at a time when 
the rulers of political and religious affairs in Western 
Europe directed all their energy against the natural 
development of the people, and regarded their own ag- 
grandizement of more importance than the general 
welfare; and he was brought up under the terrors of 
invasion, the horrors of carnage, and the discourage- 
ments of impending devastation and death. These 
were influences that were sufficient to exhaust his vi- 
tality, crush his hopes, and blast his ambition ; but he 
survived them all and became, under the Providence of 
God, a man of high impulses, passing away eventually 
with a record of noble deeds in the interest of peace 
and progress, just after the County of Berks had been 
organized as an important factor in the annals of 
Pennsylvania. 



PALATINATE AND PENNSYLVANIA COMPARED IN THE 17TH 
CENTURY. 

Condition of the Palatinate- — During the 17th century 
the inhabitants of Germany, especially along the bor- 
ders of France and Switzerland, suffered persecution, 
losses and death beyond description. We can hardly 
believe it possible that the rulers, professing openly the 
doctrines of the Christian religion, were so extremely 
cruel to their fellow-beings as to be without charity or 



WEISER LECTURE. 



forbearance. The losses which they occasioned to lite 
and property cannot be estimated — the number of lives 
running into hundreds of thousands, and the value of 
property into millions of dollars. It can readily be 
imagined that the condition of the people was truly 
intolerable ; and being unable to remedy the wrongs 
and outrages that were repeatedly perpetrated upon 
them, whether by appeals to the government, or by 
fervent prayers to God, they had only one avenue of 
escape, short of death, and that was by emigration. 

Character of People.— The Palatinates were good peo- 
ple and experienced workmen in all kinds of trades and 
occupations. By their labor and skill they had in va- 
rious ways improved the value of the several sections 
where they resided, and their productions yielded di- 
rectly and indirectly great revenues to the Government 
and the Church. One would suppose that they might 
be detained and preserved on this account if on no other, 
and that every inducement might be held out to per- 
suade them to remain and multiply their families and 
their possessions. But nothing could hold them. The 
spirit of emigration had seized them and it swept them 
from their native hills and valleys by the thousand. 

Edict of Nantes. — In eastern France the movement 
beo-an about 1666. At that time there were two million 
Huguenots, and they constituted some of the best and 
most thrifty people in the country. But during the 
next fifty years fully one-half were forced to abandon 
their homes. This was caused by the persecutions 
growing out of the Edict of Nantes which was issued 
in 1598 by King Henry IV of France. This Edict was 
issued apparently to favor the followers of Calvin, but 
finding their hopes for dominion and equality not re- 
alized, they showed dissatisfaction with its provisions, 



WEISER LECTURE. 



and then the King revoked it to reduce them to noth- 
ing. The force and influence of these persecutions ex- 
tended across the borders ot France, through Alsace 
and Lorraine into and beyond the Palatinate. The 
people throughout the territory on both sides of the 
Rhine for miles came to be influenced by a common 
impulse for religious toleration and personal freedom. 
So strong was the feeling that 30,000 inhabitants emi- 
grated in a body. At different times from 1688 to 
1707, the French entered Wurtemberg and annihilated 
whole towns and villages with fire and sword. Where 
they found an improved country, possessed bj r a thriv- 
ing people, they left abandoned valleys with death and 
destruction in their tracks. 

Condition of Pennsylvania. — Three thousand miles to 
the west, across the Atlantic Ocean, in a stretch of 
primeval country along the Delaware, about a hundred 
miles from the' sea, (then commonly known as New 
Sweden, and subsequently called Pennsylvania) the con- 
dition of the inhabitants and their prospects were just 
the opposite of those in the Palatinate. They had no 
persecutions to bear, and were permitted to exercise 
religious freedom according to the dictates of their own 
consciences. They were encouraged to establish settle- 
ments, and do all they could towards permanent im- 
provements. A spirit of peace prevailed, excepting 
such social and political disturbances as were incident 
to the change ot government from the Swedes to the 
Dutch, and from the Dutch to the English, for a period 
of thirty years. There was no edict over them from 
ruler or priest, indeed, not even a dread of political 
provisions or religious persecutions of any kind. They 
were expected to labor, make themselves useful, and 
develop the natural resources of the country. This 



WEISER LECTURE. 



they did with remarkable courage and energy, and as 
a natural consequence their population and possessions 
multiplied rapidly. 

While the Edict of Nantes was operating directly 
and indirectly to crush the spirits of the German peo- 
ple along the Rhine, the Swedes, Dutch and English 
were building up promising settlements along the Del- 
aware ; and by the time that the Edict was revoked in 
1685, William Penn had come to own the Province of 
Pennsylvania, and to establish a liberal form of govern- 
ment for the regulation of its affairs. The contrast- 
accordingly, between the condition of things then along 
the Rhine and that along the Delaware was wonderful, 

Superior' Destiny of Emigrants. — Hence the destiny of 
the two locations under widely different influences dur- 
ing the succeeding century carried the people here to 
results far superior to those in the Palatinate The 
grandchildren of those that remained there were still 
under the same form of government with no rights or 
privileges in directing or controlling the course of 
events; but the grandchildren of those that left found 
themselves free agents, constituting the very founda- 
tion of representative government. There the people 
occupied the land, but they possessed no rights of per- 
son or property which the rulers or priests were bound 
to respect. Here the Indians, as the first occupants, 
enjoyed certain vested rights. These William Penn 
respected, notwithstanding a comprehensive charter to 
him from King Charles the Second of England, and he 
taught all men to practice the sublime precept of doing 
unto others as they would be done by. 

In the midst of the enervating condition of the Pal- 
atinates just described on the one hand, and while the 
emigrants to Pennsylvania were being inspired with 



10 WEISEK LECTURE. 



the prospects of peace, equality, justice and freedom on 
the other, the subject of our remarks dawns in the his- 
tory of passing events. 



BOYHOOD OP CONRAD WEISER FROM 1696 TO 1717. 

Birth and Parentage. — Conrad Weiser was born No- 
vember 2, 1696, in the Duchy of Wurtemberg, at a vil- 
lage called Affstaedt, in the County of Herrenberg. 
Now, nearly two hundred years afterward, Affstaedt 
is still a village Math a population numbering about 
450 ; the county 35,000, and the Duchy (similar to our 
State) about 2,000,000. 

His parents and grandparents lived there during the 
devastating wars and persecutions of the 17th ceutury. 
For generations they bore exactions and sufferings of 
various kinds without flinching. They had a natural 
love for their homes along and in the vicinity of the 
Rhine, and through its influence they held on with 
matchless devotion and indescribable heroism. All the 
surrounding features were dear to them — the buildings 
where they were born and reared — the valleys and hills 
where they labored and obtained sustenance — the 
churches and schools where they were educated and 
brought from fear, darkness and ignorance into hope, 
light and knowledge. 

Faith of Progenitors. — With associations such as these, 
in spite of discouragements and losses, even death, they 
could not entertain thoughts of leaving. The faculty 
of faith was developed in them to an unusual degree, 
and their feelings created physical conditions and spir- 
itual sentiments which were transmitted to succeeding 
generations. We can therefore say that Conrad Weiser 



WELSER LECTURE. 11 



possessed these conditions and sentiments by inheri- 
tance, and that he grew up with them as his progenitors 
had grown up before him. 

Sentiment for Liberty. — During his infancy and early 
youth the social customs and practices of his parents 
still prevailed. There was apparently no progress in 
these respects. In that period of his life he was what 
they had been in a similar period. But if there was 
no change in the customs or practices, there had come 
to be a change in the sentiments of the people in refer- 
ence to the enjoyment of life, of liberty and of property. 
With persecutions continuing and no redress promised 
or hoped for, the people in and about the Palatinate 
were at last found moving in the direction of the flow- 
ing waters of the Rhine to the North Sea. 

The benevolent spirit of Queen Anne of England had 
created in their hearts a desire for personal freedom 
and religious toleration, and the kindred spirit of 
William Penn had also inclined them to consider his 
generous offers of land in the Province of Pennsylvania. 
Thousands and tens of thousands of the friends, neigh- 
bors and countrymen of Conrad Weiser's father were 
in the great social movement of emigration, and in this 
movement by the year 1709, his father had also deter- 
mined to follow. 

Emigration in 1709. — We may well wonder how he 
came to survive the cruel invasions of the French, and 
their costly devastations and persecutions. By his in- 
fluence, he collected a colony of 4000 Germans from the 
vicinity of Gross Anspach, and, in June, with his 
family (comprising eight children and himself,) he led 
this colony away from the terrors of war into the bless- 
ings of peace. In this family was Conrad Weiser, then 
nearly thirteen years of age. 



12 WEISER LECTURE. 



So it was that these Christian, hopeful, determined 
people left the Palatinate, first following the Rhine, 
then crossing the lower North Sea and landing in Eng- 
land along the Thames river near London, after a try 
ino- journey of two months. Transportation not hav- 
ing been immediately provided, they were detained 
until the necessary preparations could be made for so 
large a body of emigrants at one time. While thus 
waiting, there were five chiefs of the Mohawk tribe at 
London on a visit to the Queen, and they, hearing of 
the Palatinates, volunteered to set apart certain lands 
in the Mohawk Valley in New York, if the Queen 
should direct them to be taken thither. Their deten- 
tion having been quite expensive to the Queen, she 
willingly accepted the proposition, and about Christ- 
mas, 1709, hired ten ships to carry them across the wide 
expanse of waters to their destination. 

Landed at New York. — After a long and perilous 
voyage, they reached New York on June 17, 1710, 
whence they were taken up the Hudson River to a 
point at and about what is now known as Nevvberg. 
They believed that this was the place to which they 
had been kindly invited by the Mohawk chiefs ; but it 
was not. In reality there were seven settlements, and 
each settlement was under the control of a commis- 
sioner who was appointed by the Governor of New 
York. In that locality, still seventy-five miles from 
the Mohawk Valley, this hopeful colony of Palatinates 
was set to burning tar and cultivating hemp under the 
belief that they were working for themselves. 

Impositions on Palatinates. — After the lapse of several 
years, and after the lands had begun to show marked 
improvement, they discovered however that their pos- 



WEI8EE LECTURE. 13 



sessions and earnings were claimed and appropriated 
towards satisfying the expenses incurred in carrying 
them across the sea; and learning for the first time 
that they had been deceived and that they were em- 
ployed as slaves, they raised loud complaints. In doing 
so, they were urged by strong reasons ; for they had 
been told that their passage was to be free of expense 
to them, and that the lands which they were directed 
to occup} 7 were to be a gift or grant without cost of 
any kind. Having from the start been under the gen- 
eral guidance and protection of Conrad Weiser's father, 
they naturally looked to him with confidence for their 
rescue. And they did not look in vain. 

Settlement in Schoharie. — In the Spring of 1713, they 
sent seven deputies, under the lead of Conrad's father, 
to the Mohawk Indians, to ascertain if they would not 
be permitted to settle on lands at and about Schoharie 
— a place situated some forty miles to the west of 
Albany. While the negotiations were going on, the 
colonists appeared, so eager were they to get beyond 
the reach of the grasping commissioners. In the fol- 
lowing November, the Indians executed a release of 
their interests in certain lands for the sum of $300, and 
one hundred and fifty German families settled in that 
famous valley. Being industrious, economical and per- 
severing, they, in a few years, succeeded in building up 
prosperous villages, which came to be named after their 
leaders, as Weisersdorf, Brunnersdorf, Gerlachsdorf, 
Ilartmansdorf and Schmidtsdorf. The progeny of these 
German emigrants afterward adopted the same custom 
in Berks County, for towns came to be laid out in the 
Tulpehocken Valley and similarly named, as Womels- 
dorf, Stouchsburg, Wohleberstown, Strausstown, Rehr- 
ersburs: and Schaefferstown. 



14 WEISER LECTURE. 



Life with the Indians. — In the negotiations for the 
land, Conrad's father made the acquaintance of an In- 
dian chief, named Quagnant, and after his family had 
settled there the chief made a visit to him. During 
this visit the chief manifested a fondness for Conrad 
which led him to ask Conrad's father to permit the son 
to accompany him to his village. About the beginning 
of Winter in 1713, when seventeen years old, at his 
father's request, Conrad accompanied the Indian chief, 
and these are his own words in describing his ex- 
perience : 

"I endured a groat deal of cold in my situation, and by Spring 

my hunger far surpassed the cold, although I had \ r clothing. 

The Indians were often so intoxicated that for tear of being mur- 
dered I hid myself among the bushes. During the latter end of 
July, I returned to father from my Indian borne. I bad acquired 
a tolerable beginning, and, in fact, understood the greater part of 
the Maqua, tongue." 

This was certainly a most wonderful experience, and 
he must have possessed more than an ordinary share of 
courage, good sense and forbearance, otherwise he could 
not have remained through the Winter and Spring, 
(the most trying seasons of the year) with a race of 
people so entirely different from the Germans. Amongst 
them he was commonly known by the name of 
Tarachawagon. 

First Experience as Interpreter. — Tn this short time 
Conrad came to understand the Indians thoroughly, 
and after returning home, his ability was called into 
use as interpreter and preserver of the peace. He de- 
scribes his introductory efforts as follows: 

"About one English mile from my father's dwelling, a few 
families of the Maqua tribe resided, and a number of that Nation 
often passed to and fro on their hunting expeditions. It fre- 
quently happened that disputes arose between the high-mettled 
( rermans and members of that tawny Nation. On such occasions 
I was immediately sent for, to interpret for both parties. 1 had a 
good deal of business but no pay. None of my people understood 
their language, excepting myself, and by exertion I became per- 
fect, considering my age and circumstances." 



WEISER LECTURE. 15 



With an apparent aptitude for an undertaking of 
such a delicate nature, it was natural for Conrad Weiser 
to show his usefulness in a public way, and to extend 
his influence from a small community throughout the 
inhabited portions of the country, reaching from the 
St. Lawrence River to and beyond the Potomac, a dis- 
tance of a thousand miles. 

Successful Foot-race. — After his return, some time in 
August, 1714, the Indians arranged to have a foot-race 
with the Germans and offered to stake on the issue a 
lot of dressed deer-skins against gome articles which 
the Germans possessed. The challenge was accepted 
and both parties assembled at Weisersdorf to witness 
the race. The runner for the Indians was a young 
man, recognized as the most agile of all the tribe, and 
for the Germans Conrad Weiser was selected. The 
starting point was in the road just above the village, 
and the goal was a little beyond the most southern 
dwelling. The intervening distance was about half a 
mile in length. 

At a given signal the runners started and onward 
they dashed with the fleetness of antelopes. Towards 
the end they were obliged to turn a corner at the 
dwelling, and reaching this point side by side they ran 
against each other with such force that the Indian 
struck the building and fell. And so Conrad won the 
race. 

Employed at Farming and Teaching. — His general 
employment was at farming in the Schoharie Valley, 
under his father ; but during the Winter he was also 
engaged at teaching. Labor was the most prominent 
idea before the people in that period, and thereby they 
created value and improved the surrounding lands from 
a barren waste and wilderness into profitable gardens 
and farms ; and from caves and tents their habitations 



k; weiser lecture. 



advanced into buildings, and from the rocks and trees 
that first sheltered domestic animals there came into 
use strong and commodious barns. 

Palatinates Disturbed. — This general improvement of 
the country thereabout had been going on rapidly for 
about six years. But in the midst of their encouraging 
labors, certain men came upon the lands, claimed them 
by right of previous purchase from the Governor, and 
demanded that the occupants either buy them or yield 
up possession. This was not only a surprise, but on 
that account "a great uproar arose both at Schoharie 
and Albany." Earnest pleadings and entreaties were 
of no avail. The landlords were unscrupulous and in- 
sisted upon their demands. To them, what was the 
Queen's favor or the Indians' generous release as against, 
their alleged vested rights, especially if by presump- 
tion, fraud and threats they could acquire improve- 
ments that did not cost them any labor or expense ? 

Delegates for Redress. — Being peaceably inclined, the 
Palatinates determined to send delegates to the beloved 
Queen Anne for redress. They accordingly selected 
three representative men, one of whom was Conrad's 
father. The delegates departed secretly at the expense 
of the Colony, but they had not gone far on their jour- 
ney before they were arrested on false charges by the 
landlords. After severe trials they finally reached 
London, but found the Queen dead ; and, to add to 
their distress, agents of the landlords, anticipating 
their arrival, again caused them to be imprisoned on 
wicked misrepresentations. The poor, dejected dele- 
gates wrote for aid but their letters were intercepted. 
They persisted, nevertheless, and eventually obtained 
money for their redemption. The sum necessary to 
purchase their release amounted to £70, which, in that 
day, represented much labor and economy. 



WEISER LECTURE. 17 



Other Lands Offered. — The situation of affairs in the 
Schoharie Valley was presented so well to the "Com- 
missioners of Trade and Plantations" that Robert Hun- 
ter was recalled and William Burnet was substituted 
as Governor, to whom an order was issued — "to grant 
vacant lands to all the Germans who had been sent to 
New York by the deceased Queen Anne." Conrad 
Weiser's father returned to Schoharie in 1723, after an 
absence of four years, but he and those about him 
could not retain the lands they had improved except 
by purchasing them at exorbitant prices, which they 
could not afford, and, believing that the} 7 could not 
with certainty retain other vacant lands in that vicinity 
even if they should take possession and improve them 
as they had done twice before, certain families united 
with him in determining to make another removal. 

First Palatinates in Tulpehocken. — For ten years they 
had heard of the liberal grants in Pennsylvania to emi- 
grants, and thither they directed their way. Sixty 
families joined together in forming a colony. After 
cutting open a road from Schoharie to the headwaters 
of the Susquehanna, a distance of twenty miles, they 
proceeded by rafts and boats on this river for over 
two hundred miles to the outlet of the Swatara creek, 
and then pursued their journey along and beyond this 
stream until they reached the territory where the Tul- 
pehocken creek takes its rise. Through an unbroken 
wilderness they continued for some miles farther, and 
finding at last a country that suited them in ever} 7 way 
they halted ; and there, in 1723, amongst the Indians, 
they established the first white settlement beyond the 
South Mountain, which, shortly afterward, came to be 
known as Tulpehocken. 



18 w ktser lecture. 



MANHOOD OF CONRAD WEISER FROM 1718 TO 1760. 

While the improvement of Schoharie Valley was go- 
ing on successfully, Conrad Weiser hecame of age, and, 
strange to say, while he was entering upon the real 
trials and responsibilities of life, William Penn was 
passing away from them. By that time, he had grown 
to be a practical farmer, and he had acquired an easy 
familiarity with the English and Indian languages 
— the former by teaching and the latter by association 
with the Indians. 

Married in 1720. — In 1720 he married a young wo- 
man of that viciuity. It has been said that he selected 
for his wife a young squaw who was a daughter of one 
of the Indian chiefs whom he knew very intimately ; 
but it is generally believed that she was a German who 
came along from the Palatinate in the emigrating 
colony under the guidance of his father. Whether an 
Indian or a German, she was a faithful wife, and a most 
devoted mother of fourteen children, seven of whom 
survived their parents. 

Migration to Tulpehocken. — He continued his employ- 
ments as a farmer and a teacher, and also acted occa- 
sionally as an interpreter in the Schoharie Valley un- 
til 1729 when he too concluded to settle in the vicinity 
of his father. This exhibits a strong attachment that 
must have existed between his father and himself. His 
course in traveliug thither was the same as that pur- 
sued by his father six years before. 

Condition of Settlement. — The township of Tulpe- 
hocken was then a political division with a population 
not exceeding five hundred ; and the County of Lancas- 
ter was erected out of the upper section of Chester 




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WEISER LECTURE. 19 






County about the time of his arrival. There was only 
one church — which was situated near the Tulpehocken 
creek about two miles west from the place where he 
lived, and a highway extended from this church east- 
ward to the Schuylkill, striking the ford where Read- 
ing was subsequently laid out in 1748. Farming was 
the principal occupation, and trading operations were 
carried on with merchants at Philadelphia sixty-five 
miles distant to the southeast. This was the situation 
of affairs in the settlement in 1729. 

Influence with Indians. — The territory was still 
claimed by the Indians.. His father's influence with 
them, and then his own, must have persuaded them not 
to cause any serious trouble beyond complaints to the 
Provincial Government. At that time he was thirty- 
three years old, in the very prime of life ; and he was 
possessed of a varied experience which fitted him well 
to be what he afterward became, a leader in the 
Province until his death. 

Visit of Shekallamy. — For a few years, Conrad Weiser 
led a quiet life at farming. While thus engaged, She- 
kallamy — a representative of the Iroquois Nation, who 
resided at Shamokin— called to see him while on his 
way to Philadelphia, having doubtless known him be- 
fore in JSIew York. Shekallamy persuaded him to go 
along and act as interpreter, which he consented to do. 
This was in 1731, and it was the first time that he acted 
in such a capacity in the Province. His services on 
that occasion were so highly appreciated that the 
Executive Council directed him to be paid, even though 
the services were rendered at the request of Shekallamy. 
Several months afterward, he again assisted in a treaty 
between the Shawnese Indians and the Provincial Gov- 
ernment. From 1732 to 1736, the messengers of the 



20 WEISER LECTURE 



Iroquois passed repeatedly to and fro in order to bring 
the Treaty of 1732 to a successful conclusion, and the 
presence of Conrad Weiser was necessary at all the 
meetings. This Treaty related to the release of the 
territory that lay between the South and Blue Moun- 
tains, and extended from the Delaware River to the 
Susquehanna. 

Provincial Interpreter — From that time his reputa- 
tion as a reliable interpreter was established, and for 
twenty years afterward he was always found faithful 
and honest, speaking not his own words but the words 
of the Indians and the officials of the government. His 
reports of journeys to Shamokin, Easton, Onondago 
and Ohio, in reference to treaties, exhibit a high order 
of ability and a superior conception of honor and jus- 
tice. During his missions as interpreter he frequently 
met Benjamin Franklin and enjoyed an intimate ac- 
quaintance with him. The course of his travels was 
always through a wilderness and extended from one 
hundred to five hundred miles, with no resting places 
on the way but Indian villages. 

Here were indeed determination, courage and skill 
sufficient to distinguish him among the heroes of the 
world, not in the list of adventurers and speculators, 
but of benefactors to the human race. Brave deeds 
that are lauded most are commonly done in the com- 
pany of other persons whose presence acts as an inspi- 
ration. This is especially the case in times of war. 
But in the case of Conrad Weiser, he went mostly alone, 
with nothing to inspire him but a sense of duty, and 
nothing to encourage him but his earnest hopes of es- 
tablishing peaceful relations between the Indians and 
the settlers, and his confidence in the over-ruling Provi- 
dence of God. 



WEISER LECTURE. 21 



Local Government. — About the time that Conrad 
Weiser became publicly active as an interpreter, he also 
interested himself in the formation of a new township 
out of the extensive territory of Tulpehocken. It was 
erected in '1734 and named Heidelberg, after a promi- 
nent place in the Palatinate, in the Duchy of Baden. 

In 1738 he was at the head of a movement for the 
erection of a new county out of the upper parts of 
Lancaster and Philadelphia Counties. Repeated and 
persistent applications to the General Assembly were 
made during the next fourteen years, and finally, in 
1752, the prayer of the petitioners was granted. The 
name given to the new county was Berks — this having 
been suggested by the Proprietaries in honor of their 
native county in England. Until that time only three 
German names had been given to townships in this 
district — Heidelberg, Bern, and Alsace. This arose 
from the fact that the Germans had no control over 
Provincial affairs. Besides being interested in the es- 
tablishment of new political divisions for the rights 
and conveniences incident to local government, Conrad 
Weiser was concerned in the laying out of township 
roads to facilitate and encourage the intercourse of 
one community with another. 

This devotion to local matters exhibits one of his 
best and strougest characteristics, and shows his high 
appreciation of the rights and duties of citizenship. I 
can safely say that without his energy in behalf of local 
rights, roads, and districts, the erection of Berks 
County would have been postponed for some years, 
possibly twenty, or even thirty years, owing to the in- 
tervening excitements that eventually culminated in 
the Revolution and in the establishment of free repre- 
sentative government ; and also that, without his ex- 
tensive personal knowledge of the country above the 



22 WEISER LECTURE. 



South Mountain and between the Delaware and Sus- 
quehanna Rivers, the boundary lines of this county 
would not have been fixed in such an admirable man- 
ner, for the territory in respect to general topography, 
natural fertility, and the distribution of valleys and 
streams is without comparison of all the counties in 
Pennsylvania. His name was not mentioned in the 
Act of Assembly but his influence appeared there never- 
theless. It was, no doubt, withheld for more honorable 
mention, for he was appointed as one of the first jus- 
tices of the County Courts. 

Missionaries Encouraged. — Conrad Weiser was a man 
of positive convictions. As such he manifested a nat- 
ural zeal for religious and educational affairs in the 
Tulpehocken settlement immediately after his arrival, 
for he had been brought up under certain religious in- 
fluences, and teaching had been part of his daily life 
for the preceding ten or fifteen years. He was a mem- 
ber of the Lutheran denomination. 

In 1738 three Moravian missionaries came to this 
country in behalf of educating the Indians in the Chris- 
tian religion. He extended a kind welcome to them, 
and accompanied them to Bethlehem. Several years 
afterward, in 1742, Count Zinzendorf also visited this 
section of the Province for the purpose of assisting the 
missionaries in their religious undertaking, first preach- 
ing for a while inOleyand then going to Tulpehocken. 
Weiser received him in a cordial manner and guided him 
thence through the wilderness to Shamokin. 

Intimacy with Muhlenberg. — About that time Rev. 
Henry Melchior Muhlenberg (regarded as the pioneer 
of the Lutheran Church in America) also arrived in 
Pennsylvania. In his ministrations for the Lutheran 
denomination he passed to and fro in the Tulpehocken 
and Heidelberg settlements, and intimate social rela- 



WEISER LECTURE. 23 



tiona with Conrad Weiser were a natural consequence. 
During bis sojourns there he made the acquaintance ot 
Weiser's eldest daughter, Maria, a young woman about 
seventeen years of age, and eventually married her in 
1743. 

In 1754 Weiser permitted his name to be used in 
connection with the German Calvinists (Reformed) at 
Reading. lie may have been a member of this congre- 
gation since its organization in 1751. A patent was 
issued to him and Isaac Levan as trustees in trust for 
this congregation for the lot of ground at the corner 
of Thomas and Prince streets (now Washington and 
Sixth.) 

Judicial Career. — In 1741, Conrad Weiser was ap- 
pointed a Justice of the Peace. For this position he 
was fully qualified by education and experience. His 
father and also his grandfather had filled a similar 
office at Gross-Anspach in Wurtemberg. He continued 
to serve this position until the County of Berks was 
erected in 1752, when he was selected as one of the Jus- 
tices of the County Courts. This appointment was a 
just recognition of his ability and integrit}^. He dis- 
pensed justice without fear or favor, and officiated as 
President of this local judicial body until he died. 

On one occasion, it is stated, that he knew a litigat- 
ing party to be "worse than any Indian or Frenchman;" 
nevertheless he conducted an impartial trial and pro- 
nounced the sentence of the Court. For this upright 
and fearless discharge of official duty he and his family 
came near losing their lives. On a certain night, 
shortly afterward, the shutters of his dwelling in Hei- 
delberg were barred and the doors blockaded, and an 
effort was made to burn the house by placing straw and 
other combustible materials around on the outside and 
setting them on fire. Fortunately, one of the children 



24 WEISER LECTURE. 



discovered the attempt in time and gave the alarm, 
when all of the family escaped. 

And it is also related, as showing his humor, that a 
woman annoyed him by frequent arrests of her husband 
for assault and battery, and, upon asking her if she did 
not sometimes deserve a little castration, she replied, 
after some hesitation, that it was the husband's right 
and her profit but that he exercised the right too often 
and was too severe. 

Indian Incursions — The French and Indian War was a 
prominent factor in Colonial matters from 1754 to 17G3, 
more especially to 1758. The Indians had previously 
been led by misrepresentations of the French to believe 
that the Penns had cheated them out of their lands, 
and on this account they determined to take revenge 
on the innocent settlers in the districts near the Blue 
Mountains. Their incursions were delayed until 1754, 
then they began to visit the inhabitants with outrages 
that were truly shocking. They applied the knife, 
tomahawk, and torch at every opportunity, scalping 
or killing men, women and children, and burning 
down dwellings and barns. Their cruelties cannot be 
described nor the losses estimated. Their evil spirits 
had been thoroughly aroused, and nothing apparently 
would or could satisfy them short of blood, destruction 
and death. We cannot imagine the condiiion of the 
people during that trying and uncertain period, espe- 
cially those along and in the vicinity of the mountains, 
for it was terrible beyond description 

Military Prominence — During those fearful and costly 
years, Conrad Weiser occupied a prominent position in 
the military affairs of the Province. He was commis- 
sioned as a colonel, and as such officer he took charge 
of the troops in this section for the purpose of protect- 
ing the people and their property. In this behalf he 
superintended the construction ot certain forts along 



WEISER LECTURE. 25 



the Blue Mountains so that the terrorized inhabitants 
near by might fly to them for refuge. His letters to 
the Governors on the subject are numerous, and his de- 
scriptions of the sufferings and losses of the people are 
thrilling. They are published in the Colonial Records 
ot Pennsylvania, and display not only the remarkable 
character of the man but his great devotion to the 
general welfare of the people. 

Privilege of Court Baron. — Conrad Weiser acquired 
a large estate. Besides personal property, it consisted 
of several premises at Reading ; also improved farming 
and other lands in Heidelberg township, in the district 
of territory beyond the mountains, and along the Sus- 
quehanna River. In Heidelberg he owned altogether 
nearly 900 acres of land. It included a tract of 347 
acres with the privileges of a " Court Baron." This 
was conveyed to him in 1743, and was part of an ex- 
tensive tract containing 5165 acres which was originally 
granted by the Penns to one John Page in 1735, and 
by the Letters Patent erected into a manor, called the 
" Manor of Plumton." Several other manors of this 
kind were set apart by the Penns in the territory now 
included in Berks County, as the " Manor of Tulpe- 
hocken," the " Manor of Ruscomb," and the " Manor 
of Penn's Mount," but they were not granted as such 
to any private individual. 

The " Manor of Plumton" was the only one in Berks 
County which was sold with the right and power of 
constituting a " Court Baron ; ' but the manor was not 
held together and the Court was not established. A 
special power of this kind was contrary to the principles 
of Conrad Weiser. He had seen, heard and felt enough 
of a kindred power in the Palatinate ; hence, we may 
infer, he would not assume and exercise the judicial 
rights with which he had been duly invested. 



26 



WEISEB i. I I'll RE. 



First Store-Stand at Reading. — The town of Heading 
was laid oat by Thomas and Richard Perm, sons of 
William Penn, in 1748, and the next year they ap- 
pointed Conrad Weiser as the first-named of three com- 
missioners to dispose of the lots by public sale. Among 
those sold, Weiser himself purchased several promi- 
nent lots on Penn Square. In 1749 he took possession 



■fl!i!'ii!|l|l.|i 









'■mm 




of two of them which were situated next to the north- 
east corner of Callowhill street, (now Fifth), and by 
the next year had thereon a two-story stone building. 
It was the first building erected after the town-plan 
had been laid out. The accompanying illustration is a 
correct likeness. He established the business of hard- 
ware and general merchandise, and carried on the same 
successfully for some years ; and it is believed that a 
tavern was conducted in connection with it. 



fl EISEB LECTURE. 27 



This stand was the first, business place at Reading 
and it has been used continuously for business purposes 
ever since, a period covering one hundred and forty 
years. Besides Weiser, the Keims and Stichters owned 
and occupied it during the entire period, excepting five 
years, the former from 1769 to 1842, and the latter 
from 1842 until now. Mark Bird purchased the 
property from the Weiser estate in 1764 and owned it 
until 1769, but it is more than likely that Nicholas 
Keim occupied it in that period also, for Bird was in- 
terested in the manufacture of iron extensively at Birds- 
boro, and Keim had moved from Oley to Reading be- 
fore 1759. 

The letters which Weiser addressed to the Governor 
of Pennsylvania on Provincial affairs, from 1755 to 
1760, while at Reading, were written in this building. 
They describe the condition of things as affected by the 
French and Indian War. Previous to this war, many 
Indians, while on their way from the regions beyond 
the Blue Mountains through Reading to the seat of 
government at Philadelphia, stopped here for a while 
to pay their compliments to Weiser as a steadfast 
friend, and receive from him gifts of useful articles, or 
obtain them in exchange for articles of their own man- 
ufacture. 

Death in 1760. — After the cessation of Indian hos- 
tilities in the county, Conrad Weiser became an invalid. 
His trials and exposures latterly had been too severe 
for his strength. But he continued, however, to offi- 
ciate as the presiding judge of the courts until 1760 ; 
then he was obliged to retire to his farm in Heidelberg 
township adjoining the Tulpehocken road, nearly four- 
teen miles west from Reading, and there he died on the 
thirteenth day of July, of that year, in the sixty-third 
year of his age. He was buried in a family burying 



28 WEISER LECTURE. 



ground on the farm near the dwelling house, and 
there his body has long since mouldered in the grave. 
A common sand-stone slab was erected at the head of 
the grave with a German inscription, which translated 
reads thus: — 

This is the 

Resting Place of the 

highly honored CONRAD WEISER, 

who was born lGflO, the 2nd of November, 

in Afstaet, in the County of Herrenberg, in the 

Kingdom of Wittenberg, and died 1760, 

the 13th day of July, reaching the 

age of 63 years, 8 months 

and 13 days. 

There is an apparent error in the calculation of the 
age as to the days. It should be eleven days instead of 
thirteen. But in reality Conrad Weiser was only sixty - 
three years and eight months old at his death — eleven 
days having been added to the calendar in 1751 by 
Act of Parliament, when the year was made to begin 
on January first, in order to supply a loss of time that 
arose from the Julian theory of calculation of the revo- 
lutions of the earth. 



REFLECTIONS. 

In looking over the life of Conrad Weiser, with the 
facts before us that I have detailed, let us now see what 
reflections can be drawn from them for our guidance 
and profit. 

Physical Endurance. — Physical endurance is the first 
prominent feature of this notable man. He came from 
a family of strength. Through a line of progenitors 
he was developed to undergo successfully the trials of 
toil and to bear the strain of perseverance until he ac- 



WEISER LECTURE. 29 

complished what he undertook. Without strong bones, 
hardened muscles, sound lungs and pure blood he could 
not have endured the fatigue of his great journeys, nor 
resisted the penetrating cold of Winter and the ener- 
vating heat of Summer. Though traveling mostly on 
horseback, he reported — "it was enough to kill a man 
to come such a long and bad road, over hills, rocks, old. 
trees and rivers, to fight through a cloud of vermin 
and all kinds of poisonous worms and creeping things." 

All the immigrants, who settled in Berks County 
before its erection in 1752, were particularly required 
to be hardy men. Constant labor and rigid economy 
were absolutely necessary to improve its territory for 
sustenance and habitation. Fortunately for this section 
of Pennsylvania which the Palatinates came to occupy, 
they were so constituted ; otherwise the trying missions 
in the interest of peace and safety could not have been 
undertaken, and the primitive condition of the rugged 
hills and rolling valleys of the country could not have 
been changed from a wilderness into profitable fields. 

Conrad Weiser was a superior physical type of the 
men of his time. There was no one besides him in the 
Province capable of doing just what he did. Without 
his labors in behalf of the public welfare, the general 
condition of things in respect to the settlements, gov- 
ernment, &c.,in and for Berks County, would doubtless 
have been postponed for several decades. Now, after 
the lapse of over a century, it may be said that there 
are no missions through a wilderness for us to under- 
take, and our lands and dwelling-places are prepared 
for us ; but there are still various enterprises before us 
that will require the quality of endurance, and we 
should be led to so direct our conduct as to be distin- 
guished: by its possession. Physical culture should re- 
ceive our serious consideration, more especially since 



30 WEISER LECTURE. 



mechanical agents like steam and electricity are mak- 
ing personal exertion more and more unnecessary every 
year. 

Industry. — Next we find industry, and this we may 
regard as the foundation of his character. He laid this 
foundation well, first along the banks of the Hudson 
under grasping commissioners in burning tar and rais- 
ing hemp, and then in the Schoharie Valley under his 
father at farming. More humble employments cannot 
be imagined. In them he learned to appreciate the 
necessity and also the power *of labor in the production 
of value and the development of stability. He arrived 
in the Province of New York with the rudiments of a 
German education, but before he left it for Pennsylva- 
nia he also possessed the rudiments of an English edu- 
cation. This increased knowledge was the direct re- 
sult of industry well directed ; and experience as a far- 
mer was gained in the same way. He delighted in 
study for the development of the understanding that it 
yielded, and he also delighted in labor for the material 
profit that it brought to him. This important secret of 
success he thoroughly understood by the time he came to 
be a man for himself ; and upon settling in Tulpehocken 
he continued to display this quality in a most admira- 
ble manner to the great advantage of himself, of the 
community in which he lived, and of the entire Pro- 
vince of Pennsylvania which he served with signal 
success for nearly thirty years. 

Courage. — Courage was a quality of equal prominence 
in his character. It came to him by inheritance and it 
never left him. His consent to live with the Indians, 
while still a boy, displays it in an unusual degree. He 
evidently possessed a spirit of adventure when he went 
to them, but, after passing through a rough experience 



WEISEB LECTURE. 



with many severe trials for eight mouths, he retained 
to his father's home with a development of phyaieal 
strength and moral courage that won the admiration 
of the people round-about him. But his future life re- 
quired all that he possessed. His journeys and missions 
demanded a heart that knew no fear. He went for- 
ward, not sneaking and hiding on the way to shoot and 
kill a race of men that were commonly believed to be 
the enemy of the English and German immigrants, but 
boldly like a man of high-born convictions, and nego- 
tiated with them, either to obtain a release of lands for 
a consideration, or to effect a settlement, or to demand 
the punishment of some of their own kin for offences 
against the law. Picturing before our minds the dan- 
gers and uncertainties incident to such undertakings, 
what kind of courage would we exhibit? How many, 
no, not how many, but who of us to-day would ride on 
horseback alone, through wilderness and forest for hun- 
dreds of miles in the interest of peace and the public 
good, and take the chances of returning alive? We 
possess courage, it is true, but it dwells too prominently 
in words, arguments and dissertations rather than in 
actions, and manifests itself too much in selfish interests 
and associations rather than in noble impulses for a 
whole community. 

Experience. — Experience was also a prominent quality. 
Wherever he went and whatever he did, he showed 
qualification. He did not presume to do what he was 
not fitted for. His positions came to him, and they 
found him able and ready. While passing on from 
year to year since 1710, his employments and trials 
were in many respects common to other persons of his 
own time, but he profited by his experience in the sev- 
eral periods of his life until the close of his career when 
we find him in a better and more influential situation. 



32 WEISEK LECTURE. 



By studying the progressive course of his life, we arc 
persuaded to say that divinity shaped his ends. In all 
prominent characters, it would seem that the same di- 
recting influence was constantly at work and the same 
qualities of body and mind were exhibited, apparently 
not recognized by them but nevertheless directing and 
controlling their destiny. 

Domestic Relations. — At a mature age he established 
domestic relations of his own and became a devoted 
husband and father. His personal situation in this re- 
spect is one that we can seriously study. It was to him 
what a similar situation is to us, the basis of social life, 
and the principal inspiration of all noble endeavors. 

Now each district supports a number of families, but 
the proportion to population could be largely increased, 
indeed, should be as a means not only of building up 
self-sustaining communities but of elevating the stan- 
dard of life. As social affairs are directed and encour- 
aged, there are certain customs flowing from clubs, se- 
cret societies and entertainments of various kinds, 
which are more or less detrimental to domestic happi- 
ness, because their influences are foreign to it and are 
constantly disposed to hinder its natural development. 
If the expenses incident to them were directed into its 
channel with the same devotion and energy, the social 
improvement of families would be readily apparent in 
many ways. 

By studying the course that population has been tak- 
ing in Berks County for the last thirty years, we shall 
find the tendency too much toward the centre or county- 
seat ; and, also, that as the proportion to area of terri- 
tory occupied in the outlying districts decreases, the 
distinctive families grow less in number, with no pro- 
portional increase in the centre This tendency should 



AVEISER LECTURE. 33 



be reversed. The noblest aim of life is parentage with 
a superstructure distinguished for intellectual capability. 
It is conducive to the most elevating pleasures through 
the development of childhood into manhood and woman- 
hood. A general movement of this kind would in- 
crease the public welfare to a large degree, and it 
would become more and more apparent as the various 
avenues of social existence showed more and more in- 
vigoration. The church is to be commended as an ad- 
mirable factor whose principles and actions lead the 
people quietly and surely in this direction, but we in- 
considerately encourage other factors which counteract 
her influences to a great extent. Our efforts and asso- 
ciations should therefore be so directed as to bring 
about a natural impulse to this end. 

Man of Peace. — Conrad Weiser was eminently a man 
of peace. All his missions to the Indians and his in- 
terpretations for them had this end in view. This 
spirit gave him proper conceptions, and it also directed 
him in the political affairs that related to the early 
settlements and the general welfare of the country. 
Without it he could not have held the respect and con- 
fidence of the Indians, but with it he was enabled to be 
of great service to the Province. It is this spirit that 
is very serviceable to active and enterprising men of to- 
day, and enables them to accomplish purposes of a local 
as well as of a general nature that could not be accom- 
plished with an opposite spirit. 

For War when Necessary. — Yet, though for peace, he 
was also for war when war became a public necessity. 
But his spirit was not such as strove for conquest, ruin, 
extermination and death. It was rather to bring 1 about 
order, confidence and safety, and in these respects he 



34 WEISER LECTURE. 



was very successful. And though he covered only a 
comparatively small area of territory as a military com- 
mander, he distinguished himself nevertheless. 

Religious Conviction. — As a man of religious convic- 
tions he stood out prominently among his fellow-citi- 
zens. His heart was ever willing and his feet were 
ever ready to assist the missionaries who came into 
this section of country to open and prepare the way of 
the Indians to Christian civilization. And he was al- 
ways identified with some church or other along the 
Tulpehocken or the Schuylkill. By this we can infer 
that he held on to his belief in God which had been 
transmitted to him from his father. Though well-read 
and influential, he did not get beyond the people of his 
generation, nor did he presume to introduce notions 
and principles that were not fitted for them in their 
situation. 

Local Individuality. — Conrad Weiser was a 'man who 
had an elevated idea of local rights. In my opinion this 
is one of his noblest qualities It reveals more than 
any other quality his true character. He evidently 
possessed generous impulses for the political freedom 
of his neighbors and friends. He appreciated the ne- 
cessity of building up and preserving personal interest 
in local affairs, and regarded this interest as the founda- 
tion of local rights. His actions in various ways tended 
towards local schools and churches, local roads and dis- 
tricts, and local opportunities, conveniences and im- 
provements, and in these respects he accomplished a 
great deal for the general welfare. 

By such a course of life he contributed a strong influ- 
ence towards establishing a feeling for local identity and 
individuality. Thus he did for his commuuity what 
certain men elsewhere of strong personality did for 



WEISER LECTURE. 35 



their communities. The combined results throughout 
the different colonies eventually produced an aggrega- 
tion of commonwealths, the natural culmination of 
which was free, representative, constitutional govern- 
ment. For this we can well cherish his name. 

A careful study of his course enables us to see clearly 
that he labored for the convenience and welfare of local 
districts. It would be well if we did the same in our 
generation, especially in building up the distinctiveness 
of the family relation Our policy should be to con- 
stantly encourage this relation, and then to lead each 
family into a separate home — not a tenement house too 
small for real comfort nor too large where many 
families are under one roof, but a dwelling-house and 
lot of ground with such proportions as would tend to 
create and preserve individuality in the several families. 
This is the true and lasting basis of a prosperous com- 
munity, one in which there would appear, not a gradual 
decadence and loss of self-reliance, but a constant self- 
assertion through well-directed industry and economy, 
and a spirit of independence. 

Public Service. — And he was also actively interested 
in local government. His suggestions, actions and ex- 
ertions led to its improvement in various ways. He 
apparently deemed it his duty as a citizen to contribute 
his share of personal service towards the public welfare. 
He did not simply look on the condition of the people 
in an idle manner, however much inconvenience they 
suffered for want of a road, or a township, or a county, 
or a school, or a church, and let his neighbors start and 
work out a movement in this behalf until it was realized; 
but he co-operated, indeed, he did more than that, he 
took the lead, and developed the proper sentiments for 
local progress and convenience. 



86 WEISER LECTURE. 



Every elector of to-day should show the same spirit 
and feel that he owes some service to the community 
in which he lives, particularly one of education and ex- 
perience. By reflecting that he was educated, and also 
protected in the enjoyment of his life, property and as- 
sociations, at the public expense, and that he partici- 
pated in the general prosperity of his district for many 
years in succession, his conceptions of duty should be so 
quickened and elevated as to induce him to do some 
positive act in behalf of good government, not so much 
with a desire to fill an office himself as to see that a 
properly qualified person is selected to do so. 

Our predecessors prepared the way for our political 
advancement and social elevation. Starting with Con- 
rad Weiser's generation before 1760, when certain local 
rights and privileges were established, it would seem 
that we, in the fourth generation afterward, by an ordi- 
nary ratio of progression, should occupy a higher po- 
litical position and be generally recognized for well-ad- 
ministered, representative government, with legislation 
in the interest of the people, and for public sentiments 
of liberty, justice and equality. But by comparing the 
status of the people of 1760 with that since 1860, I am 
constrained to say that we have not reached that degree 
of efficiency in administrative affairs, both local and 
general, which should have been shown in the course of 
progress; and the cause will be found to lie in our love 
of gain, ease and luxury through mechanical power. 

Type of German Ancestry. — But the noble deeds of 
this man have been permitted to sleep silently in his- 
tory for one hundred and thirty years without a just 
tribute of any kind set up in this community for the 
observation of men ! Elsewhere, distinguished heroes, 
statesmen and representative men have been honored 



WEISER LECTURE. 37 



with monuments. Why have we not done so for Conrad 
Weiser? What are our schools and churches, our 
government and enterprise, our relations of all kinds to 
us if they educate succeeding generations only to forget 
the actions and services of such a man ? Let us sig- 
nalize them in a manner that becomes our wealth, and 
freedom, and greatness. Let us make of him a type 
whereby we can symbolize the individuality of our 
German ancestry and through it show to mankind our 
appreciation of the principles that have made and pre- 
served us until now a free and prosperous people. Let 
us erect here, at Reading, a monument out of Berks 
County granite, so that we can point to it with pride 
and say : — 

TO 

CONRAD WEISER, 

A 

GERMAN EMIGRANT FROM THE PALATINATE 

WHO, BY 

PATIENT PERSEVERANCE IN WELL-DOING 

BECA5JE 

A MAN FOR THE PEOPLE, 

WHOSE 

FRIENDSHIP WITH THE INDIANS 

BROUGHT 

PEACE TO OUR EARLY SETTLERS. 

AND WHOSE 

LABORS FOR PERSONAL RIGHTS 

ESTABLISHED 

FREE LOCAL GOVERNMENT. 



-*O^V- 



"-WEISER DAY" RECOMMENDED 

BY THE 
BOARD OF TRADE OF READING. 

At a regular meeting of the Board of Trade, held 
on Thursday evening, September 7, 1893, upon the 
recommendation of the Committee on Municipal 
Affairs, the following preamble and resolution were 
adopted : 

RESOLUTION. 

Whereas, The public services of Conrad Weiser have so dis- 
tinguished him as to lead the people of this community to regard 
him as "The first representative man of Berks County," and as 
a type of the Pennsylvania Germans in this section of Pennsylvania. 

And Whereas, Conrad Weiser was the first man of business 
at Reading, and also an earnest advocate of education throughout 
the County of Berks, on which account we, as a Board of Trade, 
have introduced a movement looking to the erection of a suitable 
monument to him, and the school authorities of the city and 
county should unite with us in our undertaking; therefore — 

Resolved, That we devote the November meeting, on Thursday. 
November 2nd, to the discussion of a project for a monument to 
Conrad Weiser, and that we request the directors at the County 
Teachers' Institute during its next annual convention, and also 
the Board of School Controllers of Reading, to set aside a part 
of said day for the study of his life and character by the teachers 
and scholars — the day to be commonly known as "Weiser Day," 
it being the anniversary of his birth. 




School History 

OF 

BERKS COUNTY, 

BY 

MORTON L MONTGOMERY. 



The School History of Berks County was published in 1889 
upon the recommendation of the county and city superintendents 
and certain advanced teachers of the common schools, for the 
purpose of enabling the children to learn the geography and his- 
tory of their own county. Immediately after its publication a 
number of the more prominent, districts introduced it as a supple- 
mental reader; and, each year since then, additional districts 
have done likewise. Those educators, who recommended its use 
at the beginning, are now, after a trial of several years, more 
highly satisfied of its utility and value in local schools. 

A child, in studying the contents of the volume, exercises the 
perceptive faculties more than the imaginative. It obtains know- 
ledge through perception, and not the imagination, because it 
can see and thus growinto understanding : but it cannot correctly 
exercise the imagination without comprehension. 

The arrangement of the book is simple. The subjects are so 
treated us to be within the grasp of any scholar who can read in- 
telligently ; and the information, though mostly of a local nature, 
can be made useful in various ways. There is an increasing de- 
mand for this information in our daily affairs, as shown b\ the 
newspapers. The conversation and interest of the great majority 
of the people are almost wholly on local topics. 

The volume is a small octavo of 300 pages, and the contents 
comprise the following chapters : 



1. 


—Geography. 


7. 


—Labor and Internal Im- 


2. 


—Indians. 




provements. 


3. 


—Early Settlers. 


S. 


—Military Periods. 


4. 


—Erection of County and 


9.- 


—Townships. 




Si ^DIVISIONS. 


10. 


—Boroughs. 


5. 


—Government. 


11. 


—Reading. 


6. 


— Education. 


12. 


—Census. 



Price. $1.50 a copy ; to School Districts. $1.00 



